In praise of the '70s

[dellzeqq]

The ever-wonderful Bob Crow on the seventies...
"I think the 70s was a great time," he says. "I've got to say, and this is God's honest truth, people say they were bad times but I think they was fantastic times. Sunday afternoon, for example – everyone had their dinner at the same time, half-past two, everywhere you walked round east London all you could smell was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, everyone's old man was down the pub having a drink Sunday lunchtime, every kid was on the wall outside the pub with a bottle of Coke and packet of crisps waiting for their old man to come out the pub. There was jobs everywhere, people would come out of one job and into another. We had the big match on Sunday afternoon, and everyone was happy."
http://www.guardian....ion?INTCMP=SRCH

And, then, yesterday, visiting the home of a young woman aquaintance I couldn't help but notice a seventies icon on the coffee table. Yup, it was our old friend the **** Colouring Book! (the following link is not worksafe... http://dontpaniconli...*-coloring-book ). And I started to think about the seventies, not as a time when clothes were just awful and pop music no better, but as a time when people had fun, when people believed in the new, when people felt secure in their jobs and in their homes. A time before 'safe sex', a time before university fees, a time when cars were truly crap and nobody bothered with garlic presses. A time before Robert Hughes told us we were all in dreamland and Thatcher snatched the milk.

It depends where you're coming from, I suppose, but what my seventies lacked in style it made up for in fun and adventure. You can be damn sure the photos will never see the light of day, but a decade in which it was possible to hitch-hike can't be all bad. Surely.....?

Your thoughts, please....

(and pass the wax crayons)

 

[srw]

And, then, yesterday, visiting the home of a young woman aquaintance I couldn't help but notice a seventies icon on the coffee table. Yup, it was our old friend the **** Colouring Book! (the following link is not worksafe... http://dontpaniconli...*-coloring-book ). And I started to think about the seventies, not as a time when clothes were just awful and pop music no better, but as a time when people had fun, when people believed in the new, when people felt secure in their jobs and in their homes. A time before 'safe sex', a time before university fees, a time when cars were truly crap and nobody bothered with garlic presses. A time before Robert Hughes told us we were all in dreamland and Thatcher snatched the milk.

The ever-alert filter has helpfully asterisked the link!

The seventies were great - safe sex was the last thing on my mind, university fees were but a twinkle in the eye, home was a cold place and jobs were the reason you worked hard, so that one day you would get your O-levels and get one. Cars belonged to other people and garlic was but a rumour. Free school milk was warm and just going off when I got to the spare bottles at going-home time.

But then I was born in the 1970s, so I was only nine-and-a-bit when they ended.

 

[Hilldodger]

I own a Ford Capri, a 70's Mercedes and several 70's motorbikes, so yeah, the 70's were good.

Especially the looooooonnnnngggg hot summer of 76

 

[XmisterIS]

I can't pass comment, I wasn't there!

 

[slowmotion]

Adnams was 12p a pint in the college bar in 1973 so it can't have been too bad.

Edit: I think a packet of Rothmans was 27p

 

[asterix]

Yes, we used to think things were pretty bad then! What did we know.. And however did you-know-who get invited to the party?*

(Oh and don't forget the Cold War! And all the spy stories.. We knew in those days who was the enemy and they knew who we were..)




*being pedantic, the literal milk-snatch was a spending cut as Secretary of State for Education in the Heath govt, much earlier than the full-blown theft of the family silver in the 80's. A sign of what was to come..

 

[Yellow Fang]

70 to 72, I was a toddler/infant in sunny Zambia. The only worry was the natives uprising and killing us (which did used to worry me when the drums starting beating in the afternoon, especially after watching Tarzan).

73 to 76.5, arrived in grotty, grey Britain, in horrible schools, with strict, witch-like primary school teachers. Gary Glitter seemed to be the best on offer (apart from Slade).

76.5 to 79.5, I was in a school I liked with mostly nice classmates. Glam rock gave way to new wave

79.5 Moved to Hove. Landed in a secondary school in a class of horrid, working class delinquents. Thatcher came to power

At least they were better than the 80s.

 

[Bird Brain]

No internet or mobile phones.Good times.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Wonderful decade. Easy access to the pleasures in life. At that time for me they were motorcycles, girls, beer and cycles in that order. Motorcycles sounded and looked like motorcycles, girls were feminine and did not pretend to be otherwise, beer was brewed by traditional local breweries and tasted of beer and cycles were made in England, cost not a ransome and required a deal of nouse and skill to ride properly. If we wanted something "stronger", we all knew where it could be obtained and enjoyed.

Yes, I was a feckless student in those days, and I loved every irresponsible second of it.

 

[GordonB]

Did my first longish cycle run in the 1970s, the London to Brighton in 1978 when it started from Speakers Corner. I did it again in 1979 then four more times in the 80s, but it was the first two that stick in the memory as does much of the 1970s.

That was the decade I moved from the benighted backwater that was Gateshead to London, which was exciting and in those heady days, a relatively safe and pleasant place to be. 1976 was probably the most memorable year, hot as hell all summer with clouds of aphids followed by swarms of ladybirds. Cars driving by sounded like sticky tape being ripped off the roll, as the tar had melted. I remember one particularly hot Sunday morning my gf and I decided to see how far we could get by hitch hiking from the Oval. Six lifts later we were in Dorking, walked up Box Hill, down the other side and hitched back in time for supper. Try doing that these days!

It was also the decade that I bought my first really good bike, a Holdsworth Mistral frame purchased secondhand from Chas Roberts and built up with mainly Suntour components. Still got it, still use it! Lots of good memories from the 70s, life seemed so relaxed with everthing to look forward to.

Gordon

 

[Smokin Joe]

Anyone who was black, gay or even female might not have such happy memories of the seventies.

It was quite an ugly decade.

 

[Maz]

Anyone who was black, gay or even female might not have such happy memories of the seventies.

It was quite an ugly decade.

+1 unfortunately.

 

[Bird Brain]

Definitely.

 

[Bird Brain]

God I was born in 1963 and all I remember is The Beatles/Banana Splits/Star Trek (the original and best) and Match of the Day on BBC1.Plus that Sugar song.

Also remember the 1976 heatwave and my first two bikes.

Loved the late 70's disco scene and John Travolta was cool in Grease.

Also I had many trips down the M4 to Weston Super Mare and was interested in railways at that time little suspecting I would join in the early 1980's and still be there in 2010.

 

[Aperitif]

Adnams was 12p a pint in the college bar in 1973 so it can't have been too bad.

Edit: I think a packet of Rothmans was 27p

Cor! You're really old aren't you mate?

I had a brilliant time I think. Rugby, cricket, art schools and more art schools. A total laundry service and built-in bowling machine, courtesy of my Mum,(my Dad was always working, reading the News of the World or watching Pan's People on the telly) totally subsidised existence and partying to James Brown from Friday night to Monday morning, followed by the BeeGees Night Fever and Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'(perhaps a bit of Eric burden's 'War' thrown in for good measure) - ah! the seventies: rugby, cricket, beer, painting and drawing and being sociable. My, how times have changed!